THE INFLUENCE OF PLASTIC PRESTRAINING ON BRITTLE FRACTURE RESISTANCE OF METALLIC MATERIALS WITH CRACKS

Abstract The purpose of the present work was to study the influence of different regimes of overloading of pressure vessel steels in different states which correspond to the steel properties at the beginning of a reactor operation and at different degrees of embrittlement (simulated by heat treatment). The experiments were performed on 25, 50 and 150 mm thick specimens with short and long cracks of various shape in the temperature range from 293 to 623 K corresponding to the service temperature range of those steels. The following factors were investigated contribution of different effects (residual stresses, strain hardening, crack tip blunting) into the enhancement of the brittle fracture resistance of steels after warm prestressing, stability of the positive warm prestressing effect during subsequent exposure of the steels to different service loading conditions; size effect on optimal regimes of thermo-mechanical prestressing and on the brittle fracture resistance characteristics of the steels studied after warm-prestressing. An approach is proposed to predict the increase in the brittle fracture resistance of steels with cracks after warm prestressing.     

Fem prediction of the influence of warm prestressing on fracture toughness of heat-resistant steel

We present a procedure of prediction of the influence of warm prestressing combined with cycling on the brittle strength of steel 15Kh2MFA. Using a finite-element method, the effect of the combined warm prestressing on the stress-strain state at a fatigue crack tip is studied in an elastic-plastic statement. Electron microscopic observations of fracture surfaces have revealed that fracture is initiated at some distance from the fatigue crack front. Based on the pattern of influence of the plastic prestrain level on the cleavage stress of steel 15Kh2MFA and the experimental CID value, a method is put forward for finite-element modeling of the stress-strain state at a crack tip during the specimen fracture. Using the results of the finite-element modeling, the relevant curves have been plotted and an approximating formula has been proposed to represent the influence of the combined warm prestress level on the fracture toughness of steel 15Kh2MFA.     

Prediction of fracture toughness for heat-resistant steels considering specimen dimensions. Report 4. Fracture toughness after plastic prestraining of materials with cracks

The paper presents the results of an experimental investigation of the influence of warm prestressing (WPS) on fracture toughness characteristics of large-size specimens. The WPS has been found to be an efficient method for enhancing brittle fracture resistance of large-size bodies from the investigated materials and can be recommended for practical realization in nuclear reactors and other critical structures whose brittle fracture is impermissible both in the process of normal operation and in emergency situations. The optimum temperature-loading regime of the WPS is defined by both the properties of a given material and its thickness which governs the intensity of plastic deformation in the process of WPS. Based on the established mechanisms of the WPS effect, a physicomechanical model has been developed for the prediction of fracture toughness for pressure-vessel heat-resistant steels after WPS taking into account the influence of the stress state at the crack tip. The model makes it possible to predict fracture toughness for large-size bodies subjected to WPS with the given temperature and loading regimes from the results of testing small laboratory specimens. The most optimum regimes of the WPS can also be determined using this model and even those for several materials making up a structural component and subjected to the WPS. Translated from Problemy Prochnosti, No. 3, pp. 39–54, May–June, 1997.     

Preliminary thermomechanical loading (warm prestressing) as a promising method for increasing the radiation resistance of the vessels of water-moderated water-cooled power reactors operating under high pressure

We study the influence of various modes of preliminary thermomechanical loading (warm prestressing) on the brittle-fracture resistance of heat-resistant pressure-vessel reactor steels with different levels of embrittlement induced by thermal treatment. The tests were performed on specimens 25, 50, and 150 mm in thickness with short and long cracks of various shapes in the temperature range 293–623 K, corresponding to the service temperatures of these types of steel. We analyzed the contributions of different mechanisms (such as residual stresses, strain hardening, and crack-tip blunting) to an increase in the brittle-fracture resistance of the investigated types of steel subjected to warm prestressing, the stability of the positive effect of warm prestressing for various times of holding of these metals under different working loads and at different temperatures, and the influence of the sizes of specimens on the optimal modes of warm prestressing and the characteristics of brittle-fracture resistance of steels after thermomechanical treatment. We propose an approach to the prediction of the influence of the modes of thermomechanical treatment on the behavior of the brittle-fracture resistance of cracked steels. Translated from Problemy Prochnosti, No. 2, pp. 38 – 55, March – April, 1998.     

A calculation-experimental study of crack-tip opening displacement and residual stresses upon warm prestressing

For a reactor pressure vessel steel 15Kh2MFA(III) experiments and calculations have been carried out to study the factors that have an influence on the increase of the lower-shelf fracture toughness in the temperature dependence diagrams upon warm prestressing. Stereoscopic fractography and numerical investigation have demonstrated that after the warm prestressing the crack tip remains blunt. This reduces the stress singularity during subsequent loading and raises the material fracture toughness. The paper gives the calculated data on residual stresses and crack-tip opening displacement during warm prestressing and upon relief. The calculated results are shown to agree well with the known analytical relations and experimental data.     

THE EFFECTS OF SUB-CRITICAL CRACK GROWTH ON THE FRACTURE BEHAVIOUR OF CRACKED FERRITIC STEELS AFTER WARM PRESTRESSING

The effects of sub-critical crack extension on the fracture properties of ferritic steels after they have been subjected to warm prestressing are investigated. The crack growth is assumed to occur at the temperature of the final loading, after the warm prestressing and the subsequent unloading. Predictions of the fracture behaviour are made using continuum mechanics and a fracture criterion based on a modified J-integral. The results of these calculations are consistent with those of a micromechanistic model of cleavage fracture from a sharp crack. Both the theories predict that the beneficial elevation in fracture load produced by warm prestressing is maintained after sub-critical crack growth provided the latter is not greater than the compressive yielded zone formed on unloading.     

Creep crack growth laws in heat-resistant steels

The conditions of various fundamental fields' domination at the creep crack tip have been considered. The creep crack growth properties and criteria are discussed. The relation between the creep crack growth kinetics and mechanisms have been studied for heat-resistant turbine steels over a wide test temperature and load range. In recent years much attention has been paid to the theoretical analysis of creep crack growth, though experimental investigations were generally performed for a comparatively narrow temperature and test time interval. The paper is concerned with the criteria and basic laws of creep crack growth. The results of our experimental investigation of the crack kinetics and crack growth mechanisms in heat-resistant steels in wide temperature and test time ranges are also presented.     

Temperature dependence of material length scale for strain gradient plasticity and its effect on near‐tip opening displacement

This paper investigates the temperature dependence of the material length scale in the conventional mechanism‐based strain gradient (CMSG) plasticity theory. The work reported here also examines the plastic strain gradient effect on the opening displacement near a sharp crack tip. The study examines the mechanical properties of two typical structural steels (S355 and S690) in onshore and offshore structures at two different temperatures (20 and 300 °C) through both the uniaxial tension test and the indentation test. The CMSG‐based finite element analysis then confirms a constant material length scale for these two steels at the two tested temperatures, despite the apparent temperature dependence of the macroscopic material parameters measured from the tension test. Using the calibrated material length scale, the subsequent numerical study demonstrates that the magnitude of the near‐tip crack opening displacement computed by the CMSG theory remains significantly lower than that computed from the classical plasticity.     

A model for predicting the influence of warm pre-stressing and strain ageing on the cleavage fracture toughness of ferritic steels

A micromechanistic model of warm pre-stressing is extended to predict the combined effects of warm pre-stressing and strain ageing on the cleavage fracture toughness of ferritic steels. The crack tip stress distribution after a cycle of pre-straining and strain ageing is estimated by superposition of the appropriate monotonic loading stress distributions. The Ritchie, Knott and Rice model of cleavage fracture and its associated fracture criterion are employed in conjunction with the crack tip stress distribution to predict the critical stress intensity factor after warm pre-stressing and strain ageing. Illustrative calculations are presented, based upon the published material's properties of a high nitrogen mild steel. Available experimental data for pressure vessel steels bear out the form of the predictions. At low temperatures, and after heavy pre-loads, the benefits of warm pre-stressing dominate strain ageing induced embrittlement and the toughness is apparently enhanced. At higher temperatures, or after small pre-loads, however, strain ageing dominates and the apparent toughness is reduced. Various assumptions and approximations inherent in the model are discussed. These generally tend to render the predictions conservative. Finally it is noted that the model should be equally applicable to the prediction of the combined effect of warm pre-stressing and neutron irradiation on the cleavage fracture toughness of ferritic steels.     

Assessment of brittle strength of nuclear reactor pressure vessel steel upon warm prestressing

A procedure for assessing the influence of combined warm prestressing on fracture toughness of heat-resistant steel is proposed, which is based on the stress-strain state analysis by the finite-element method (in the elastic-plastic statement) and on the local fracture criterion.     

On the Effect of Hydrogen on the Fracture Toughness of Steel

A model is developed to quantify the effect of hydrogen on the critical stress intensity factor or fracture toughness of steels. The stress-assisted hydrogen diffusion model proposed by Liu (1970) is assumed and combined with the elastic stress field around the crack tip for quantifying the hydrogen concentration at the crack tip. Introducing a fracture criterion as the critical hydrogen concentration at a critical distance ahead of the crack tip, this model is successfully applied to the interpretation of hydrogen embrittlement behavior in a piping material. Experimental data at constant temperature were used to validate the model. With further development, the model has the potential to predict fracture toughness values at temperatures other than the test temperature.     

Analysis of the microstructure near the crack tip of ASME Gr.92 steel after creep crack growth

The microstructures near to and remote from the tip of a crack in ASME Gr.92 steel were investigated after creep crack growth at 873 and 898 K, focusing on the martensitic lath, the dislocation structure, and precipitates. After creep, the mean lath width near the crack tip was obviously larger than that of the virgin material, whereas the lath width remote from the crack tip was only slightly larger than that of the virgin material. The mean dislocation density near the crack tip markedly decreased after creep, whereas only a small change was observed in the dislocation density remote from the crack tip. The mean size of M₂₃C₆ particles near the crack tip after creep was larger than that of the virgin material, whereas their mean size remote from the crack tip was almost the same as that of the virgin material.     

Influence of isotropic strain hardening on plane strain dynamic growth in elastic-plastic materials

In this paper, dynamic crack growth in an elastic-plastic material is analysed under mode I, plane strain, small-scale yielding conditions using a finite element procedure. The material is assumed to obey J₂ incremental theory of plasticity with isotropic strain hardening which is of the power-law type under uniaxial tension. The influence of material inertia and strain hardening on the stress and deformation fields near the crack tip is investigated. The results demonstrate that strain hardening tends to oppose the role of inertia in decreasing plastic strains and stresses near the crack tip. The length scale near the crack tip over which inertia effects are dominant also diminishes with increase in strain hardening. A ductile crack growth criterion based on the attainment of a critical crack tip opening displacement is used to obtain the dependence of the theoretical dynamic fracture toughness on crack speed. It is found that the resistance offered by the elastic-plastic material to high speed crack propagation may be considerably reduced when it possesses some strain hardening.     

Cleavage Stress Required to Produce Fracture Path Deflection in Cold-Drawn Prestressing Steel Wires

Cold-drawn prestressing steel wires exhibit strength anisotropy in the form of fracture path deflection towards a direction approaching the wire axis, or cold drawing line, as a consequence of the pearlitic microstructure orientation induced by the manufacturing procedure. Such a crack path deflection is initiated at certain nuclei (fracture origins) at which axial cracking appears in the cold drawing direction (or wire axis) in the form of micro-cleavage units that produce in the load-displacement curve a macroscopic phenomenon of pop-in. This paper shows that such fracture initiators appear at a certain distance from the fatigue pre-crack tip at which a local maximum of the cleavage stress is located.     

The influence of microstructure on the fatigue crack growth rate in marine steels in the Paris Region

This paper presents a study on the effect of microstructure on the fatigue crack growth (FCG) rate in advanced S355 marine steels in the Paris Region of the da/dN versus ΔK log–log plot. The environments of study were air and seawater (SW), under constant amplitude sinewave fatigue loading. Fundamentally, three phenomena (crack tip diversion, crack front bifurcation and metal crumb formation) were observed to influence the rate of FCG. These phenomena appear to be a function of the material microstructure, environment and crack tip loading conditions. The three factors retarded the crack growth by reducing or redistributing the effective driving force at the main active crack tip. A crack path containing extensively the three phenomena was observed to offer strong resistance to FCG. In SW, the degree of the electrochemical dissolution of the microplastic zone appears to be an additional primary factor influencing FCG in the steels.     

A local approach to cleavage fracture in ferritic steels following warm pre-stressing

Quantification of the enhancement in cleavage fracture toughness of ferritic steels following warm pre‐stressing has received great interest in light of its significance in the integrity assessment of such structures as pressure vessels. A Beremin type probability distribution model, i.e., a local stress‐based approach to cleavage fracture, has been developed and used for estimating cleavage fracture following prior loading (or warm pre‐stressing, WPS) in two ferritic steels with different geometry configurations. Firstly, the Weibull parameters required to match the experimental scatter in lower shelf toughness of the candidate steels are identified. These parameters are then used in two‐ and three‐dimensional finite element simulations of prior loading on the upper shelf followed by unloading and cooling to lower shelf temperatures (WPS) to determine the probability of failure. Using both isotropic hardening and kinematic hardening material models, the effect of hardening response on the predictions obtained from the suggested approach has been examined. The predictions are consistent with experimental scatter in toughness following WPS and provide a means of determining the importance of the crack tip residual stresses. We demonstrate that for our steels the crack tip residual stress is the pivotal feature in improving the fracture toughness following WPS. Predictions are compared with the available experimental data. The paper finally discusses the results in the context of the non‐uniqueness of the Weibull parameters and investigates the sensitivity of predictions to the Weibull exponent, m, and the relevance of m to the stress triaxiality factor as suggested in the literature.     

Effect of sudden load decrease on the fatigue crack growth in cold drawn prestressing steel

This paper analyzes the overload retardation effect (ORE) on the fatigue crack growth (FCG) of cold drawn prestressing steel when different loading sequences are used. The ORE is more intense for elevated load decrease or for low initial stress intensity factor (SIF) range ΔK₀. A transient stage can be observed in the Paris curve (da/dN–ΔK) when the K_maxΔK value suddenly decreases, associated with the ORE and with the evolution of the plastic zone and compressive residual stresses near the crack tip. In tests with K_max decrease, a small zone appears related to FCG initiation, with a fatigue fractography resembling the tearing topography surface (TTS) mode, and associated with a decrease of crack tip opening displacement (CTOD).     

Load Rate-Related Mechanical Properties of Steels and Alloys under Static and Cyclic Loading in Gaseous Hydrogen

Strength of Materials - The hydrogen effect on strength, ductility, low-cycle life, and cyclic crack resistance parameters of steels of different structural classes and a heat-resistant nickel...     

Rotation at the crack tip and COD of mode I crack in anisotropic plate

Rigid body rotation is obtained at the points near crack tip of mode I crack in infinite anisotropic plate. Using Lekhnitskii's complex analysis procedure the rotation is expressed in terms of complex potentials and complex parameters of the material. A relation of crack tip rotation is obtained by incorporating the stress intensity factor and complex parameters for the known crack configuration. An equation of crack opening displacement is derived. For the case of plates made of composite materials the features of crack tip rotation and crack edge profile due to mode I loading are described.     

INVESTIGATION OF THE ROLE OF RESIDUAL STRESSES IN THE WARM PRESTRESS (WPS) EFFECT. PART II—ANALYSIS

Abstract— Curry's model of the WPS effect has been applied to the results of a previous paper, and is extended to treat warm prestressing in blunt notched test-pieces. The effect of more complex prestress cycles is also predicted by an extrapolation of the model. The effects of the load-cool-fracture, LCF, cycle can be reasonably predicted for both sharply precracked and blunt notched specimens. For the sharply precracked specimens the effects of the load-unload-cool-fracture, LUCF, cycle at — 196°C are consistently overpredicted and this may be due to a decrease in the cleavage fracture stress at — 196°C of the material at the crack tip which has been subjected to repeated plastic straining by the combination of loading cycles. Modifications to the model are suggested which reduce the overproduction but a wide degree of scatter is observed in the experimental observations. Blunt notched specimens show a reasonable correlation between prediction and theory for the tensile LUCF cycle. Problems have been found in predicting the effect of various prestress cycles in different specimens due to the inherent variability in baseline fracture behaviour of the weld metal. It is concluded that the general trend of results is adequately explained by superposition models but that a greater understanding of local flow properties at a crack tip is required to achieve reasonable predictive success for weld metals such as A533BW.